


Green Eyes

by UnderTheRedHood



Series: YJ appreciation month [1]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, F/M, Kid Flash - Freeform, Spitfire - Freeform, YJ, yjam, young justice appreciation month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2015-11-21
Packaged: 2018-05-02 15:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5252564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderTheRedHood/pseuds/UnderTheRedHood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 1: Villain AU</p><p>If Artemis had followed in her family's footsteps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Green Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> December is Young Justice Appreciation Month, and so I've started writing to some of the prompts. This is part one of several oneshots.

It’s his eyes that reach her first.

She shouldn’t have looked-- that’s like the number one rule of murder: you don’t look into their eyes.  Hell, you don’t even say the word _murder_.  They aren’t people.  When you kill somebody, you gotta see it as a job, as a mission.  This boy-- this thing with green eyes… it starts to gnaw at her the second she sees him.

He grunts when her foot comes into contact with his chest, apparently too startled to move out of the way.  She’s good at hand-to-hand and suddenly he’s on the concrete a few feet away, dazed and confused.

In her mind, a Zep song comes on and she’s okay again.  This can be fun if she lets it.  That’s what Jade is always saying: you just gotta let it be fun and then it is.

She hums to herself as she comes at him again, this time a knife drawn close to her.  He doesn’t see it till the last minute but still-- this kid is fast and he’s out of her reach before she can blink.   _Fuck_.

“Hey, hey,” he backs up, a stupid grin on his face.  Part of her wants to wipe it off and another part admires him for making it a game too.  Games are fun.  They’re teenagers, they’re supposed to be having fun, right?  “Buy a guy dinner first, ey?”

Artemis smirks for half a second before she remembers she’s supposed to be killing him.  Dad was not in a good mood when she left this morning and she knows she’s under the strict orders of: you come back with a prize or you don’t come back at all.

She clenches her fists, sizing him up and down while he dusts off his knees and they lock eye contact.  He’s got to be around the same age as her-- probably just some dumb high schooler she’d pass in the halls without noticing.  But those eyes… she finds it hard to imagine not noticing those.

“I’m Kid Flash, by the way,” he continues rambling as though this is no big deal, “it’s nice to meet you.  I mean, minus the whole physical violence thing but--”

She’s elbowing him hard, bringing his body against the pavement in one swift movement.  When he’s down, she draws an arrow and takes a step back, aiming for his throat.  Only damnit-- he catches it and he’s running again-- too fast and FUCK: now he’s got her bow.

“That’s all you got?” He teases, winking at her and dropping her bow on the ground before cracking it under his foot.

“Oh you’re dead-- you’re so so dead,” she growls, hissing at the sight of her weapon.

This seems to stimulate his laughter as he whips around again, stretching closer to her.  He’s a mouse and she’s a cat-- this is fun for both of them and yet she knows in the end, she has the upper hand.

“Hey, so I never did get your name,” he says casually before knocking her to her knees and landing-- sliding a few feet away like some kid on wheelies.

“Artemis,” she replies in a low tone, flipping backward and meeting up with him again this time with a swipe across the chest that he narrowly misses.

“Ah, that seems to fit.  So babe, why the long face?”

Oh fuck this kid--

She knocks the breath out of him with her clenched fist slamming against the edge of his jaw, “don’t call me babe.”

“Ah, got it.  Noted,” he says with an uneasy laugh-- there and then gone and then there again.   _Man, he’s fast_.

Artemis wonders if Jade’s ever met somebody like this: somebody hard to kill ~~and not just because of their abilities~~.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” He asks, continuing to make small talk as he dodges another one of her kicks.

Grinning slyly, she knocks him off his feet again, sending him colliding against the nearest tree, “no but you should.”

He gets up quickly but there’s a dizziness behind his eyes, “hey Art, maybe lay off on the punching thing?”

Rolling her charcoal eyes, she finds herself crouching low, keeping her heart beat steady as she meets his gaze.  She knows how to be unpredictable.  She's good at that.

Moving to the side, she half-lunges so it looks like she's going to go for his throat.  He steps back and to the side expecting it, but falls right into her trap.  Her knife edges its way against her palm and--

Checkmate.

She can feel him gulp as she leans closer, brings him up to the edge of her blade.  One small movement and he’s just a body-- and she’s a winner.  She can do it if she wants to.  She’s won.

He isn’t talking anymore and she thinks she feels him trembling.  What a weird thought.  Is he thinking about his family?  About his friends?  Maybe he has a girlfriend who’s going to miss him.   ~~Maybe not.~~

Artemis releases her hold all at once, her chest heavy and tight and she can’t catch her breath.  She turns away, lets him escape in a moment of weakness.  He’s a few steps away now looking at her hesitantly.  It’s like he doesn’t know what to do.  What an idiot.

“Get out of here,” she snaps but her voice is raspy and she _can’t breathe_.  He obliges but not before giving her one last glance into those wild green eyes.

She’s going to be on the streets tonight.  Maybe she’ll be able to convince dad to let her back in by tomorrow-- but it’ll take a lot of begging and then snarling and then some bruises.  Still… it seems worth it.  Just this once.  Just for those green eyes.


End file.
